What is the role of an editor in a publishing house? How much time does an editor spend on acquisition and how much on the actual editing? What’s selling right now in the market? Is Romance bigger than Crime? Are publishers still buying Vampire novels? Should you send your novel straight to an editor? How does an editor decide which book to buy and which one to reject? How does an editor acquire a book? What is the relationship between editors and agents?

Rachel Kahan, Executive Editor of William Morrow (HarperCollins), USA, answers these and many more questions in this talk (excepted from Rachel’s Masterclass on Editing). Here, she discusses the role of an editor in a contemporary commercial publishing house, especially in the context of the US and UK markets.

This talk was recorded at the Publishing Symposium@Singapore Writers Festival 2013.